Top 25 for Junior Ski Cross

Australia's Junior Ski Cross team have finished in the top 25 up against a strong field in the FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Valmalenco, Italy, over the weekend.

Developing athletes Andrew Fairley, age 21 and Max Hill, age 20, cranked up their performances against a tough international field of youngsters already competing in World Cups and placing high in Continental Cups this season.

Both boys qualified for the finals, with Max Hill getting a promising 11th fastest time. Though, the finals caught up with the boys, with Hill finishing in 14th place and Fairley in 23rd place.  

The gold was taken by German Florian Wilmsmann, who debuted on the World Cup circuit in the 2015-16 season.  Silver was taken by Canadian Zach Belczyk, who's won and placed regularly in Nor-Am Cups since 2015, and bronze was taken by Swede Erik Mobaerg, who has had regular placings in the top five in Europa Cups aswell as his debut at the Freestyle World Championships in Sierra Nevada Spain this year where he came 29th.

While it's not their first Junior World Cup, both boys have been getting stronger with experience and skied well in this event, the final for their season, before heading back to Australia for the southern winter season.